Concrete bucket



March 13, 1956 w. B. BEER ETAL 2,7389218 CONCRETE BUCKET Filed April 9. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l MQWEEMEM March 13, 1956 w. B. BEER ETAL 2,738,218

CONCRETE BUCKET med April 9, 1951 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTORS United States Patent '6) 2.7325218, ,Y cNcintrigantidisarr-;4

William B. Beer, Crescent Township, Allegheny Qonnty,

and Robert C, NorrishWest yView, lPa.,'assigirors to Dravo Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.,;a 'corporation of Pennsylvania Y Applicatie Aprill, 1251sSetiaLNoZZQsQM@ sl claims, vi, `(ci: 29e-1011@ mechanical scraping is requireduto get the concrete out of the bucket, l.,

Further, most,typeswotvcgncgeteAbggketsuhave side or restricted bottomI openings through which-the concrete is dumped, and thesewopenings often require manual labor relates@ @bucket lier handling 2,738,218 Patented Mar, 131956 lCC is open in its entire cross-section. Side walls `1,8 extendY from the bottom up to apoint (approxlmatelytwo-I ifthswof, the `height of the bucket) in practically vertical position nadthen'are inclined outwardly ata steep angle to rneetthe sidelof the cylindrical casing 14.Y The'other` twoV sides'of the bucket 22 extend vertically to approximately two-thirdsvofl the height of the bucket to aline 24,

and then incline outwardly at a steep'angle fromvthe line 24 to the top ofthe casing, Fig. l. The width,` of the narrowest side walls of the rectangular bottom section is L slightlygreater than half vthe diameter ofthe rupper circular portionof the bucket. Further to provide a ready dow of concrete along the walls where they change fromfa verticalmdirection to a steepwangle, itisnecessary that'fthe change in direction `should be made by alarge radius curve as illustrated inthe drawings.V The-top of the `bucket is `circulargwith the upper portion of the casing 14for`ming a part of the bucket.- A reinforcing band 26surrounds the top of the casing 14, and a supporting band 28 is secured on the inside of the bottom ofthe v casing, v Theinclination of the inclined portions of the Or Vibrations t0, Cause the thickoneretefto pass ,through v Thefnrimary Qbieetf.theptesentfinyenrion;iste Previde ateenetete ,bucket fonhantllinglanddischarging 10W slumpV concrete, with u a y l, amount of 1' labor. .land attention.

Another objectv of the invention is to provide a icon-r` crete bucketfromwwhich concrete-may be 'discharged through an opening constituting the crosssectional area of the bottom of the bucket.

A further object of the invention is to provide a concrete bucket having a large bottom discharge opening which is controlled by doors that open and close fast, and which are easy `to manipulate.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved concrete bucket hereinafter described and particularly defined in the appended claims.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a top plan view of a concrete bucket embodying the preferred form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the concrete bucket shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the mounting of the bucket in a cylindrical casing;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing the bottom discharge doors and the mechanism for opening and closing the doors;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation illustrating the hand wheel mechanism for manipulating the concrete discharge doors, and showing the discharge doors in open position; and

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing the mounting of the pivot pins for the door arms on the side of the bucket.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the concrete bucket consists of a container which has a rectangular bottom section 10 and a cylindrical upper section 12. The entire bucket stands about six feet tall, and is contained in a cylindrical casing 14. The rectangular section 10 extends upwardly from the bottom of the casing about one-third of the height of the bucket, and has a pair of doors 16 pivotally mounted below the bottom of the bucket which walls 18V and 22 is so steep that low slump concrete will readily flow down such walls when the bucketdoors are Opened .fer dumping.

The-construction of the d oors16 for closing the bottom I, offthe bucket is -shown more particularly in Figs'.V l.; 2

and -3.-` Broadly;l considered, ythe doors are clam shells which are simultaneously moved toward and from the center of the bottom of the bucket to close and open the bottom of the bucket for discharging or dumping concrete.- -The `doors are arcutaevplates 30 which are attached atp-each end to arms A32and.3,4 whichare pivotally -mounted at the bottom of the sides 22 so that the doorsoperate-on'the rectangular bottom-sectionf-of the bucket. AThe bottom ofwallsor sides 22 are formedron arcs,-the `radius =of which is equalrto thelengtlrof the arms 32 aricqliv from the axis of Vthe arm pivottonthe bplates -30.- 'The plates 3U-'are formed with an arc, a'radius of which is substantially the sameas the radius on which the bottom of the sides 22 are formed, so that when the doors swing from the position shown in Fig. 3 to close the bucket as shown in Fig. 2, the plate 30 will move in close proximity to the bottom of the walls 22 to hold concrete in the bucket,

From Fig. 2, it will be seen that the bottom of the bucket with the doors closed is spaced a suicient distance above the bottom of the casing 14 so that the doors will operate freely when the bucket is supported on a flat surface by the casing.

The arms 32 and 34 are` mounted on each side of the bucket and connected to the sides by means of pivot pins 36, the details of which are shown more particularly in Fig. 5. The pins 36 projects through the wall 22 and is held in position by means of a nut 38. The nut is welded in position on the pin and the wall 22, and after it has been fixed in position, is ground to take oft the sharp ledges so that the concrete will llow freely by the nuts 38. The arms 32 and 34 are welded to a hub 40 which is pivotally mounted on the pin 36 by means of a ball bearing 42. A reinforcing plate 44 is mounted against the wall 22 to assist in supporting the pin 36. The hub 40 is closed by a Spanner nut 46 which retains grease in the bearing 42 and keeps foreign matter and concrete out of the bearing.

The arms 32 and 34 on each side of the bucket are connected by means of a link 48 which is pivotally connected to a pin 50 in the arm 32, and a pin 52 in the arm 34. A gear segment 54 is secured to an upper extension 56 on each of the arms 34, said segment having teeth on its upper face which mesh with idler pnions 58 mounted on shafts 60 which are pivotally mounted between braces 62 and the bucket side wall 22. Sprocket gears 64 are fixed on the shafts 60 and are connected by means of chains 66 with pinions 68 on each end of shaft 70. The shaft 70 extends entirely through the bucket and carries a hand wheel 72 on each end thereof. The shape and distribution of weight of the arms 32 and 34 and the mounting of the link 48 between the arms is such that When the hand wheel, which is carefully counterbalanced, is turned, the doors will automatically move by gravity from an open position as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 to the closed position shown in Fig. 2. The balancing of the arms and doors is carefully taken care of so that the clam shell doors may be easily opened by turning the hand wheel.

In place of a chain with sprockets for operating the doors, a pinion on shaft 70 may be arranged to mesh with a gear on shaft 68 to open and close the doors.

Circular openings 73 are formed in the casing 14 opposite the bucket sides 22 to give access to the hand wheels for opening and closing the doors.

A gear guard 74 as shown in Fig. 2 has openings 76 to t over the ends of the shafts 60 and 70 to shield an operator from contact with the bucket operating gears and sprocket.

As shown in Fig. 4, hand holds 78 are mounted on the sides of the casing 14 opposite the side walls 18, these hand holds being used by an operator for positioning the bucket when it is being positioned to be dumped. The hand holds 78 also protect the hand wheels 72 against damage when the bucket is being moved around forms and through shafts. The operator normally stands in front of the hand hold 78 and the cylindrical shape of the bucket permits the operator to revolve the bucket without changing his position and to easily reach a hand wheel 72 on either side of the bucket to open and close the doors. A bale 76 is welded to the upper portion of the casing to which the lifting tackle may be attached for suspending the bucket to move it into and out f discharging position. A series of openings 80 are formed around the bottom of the casing to give access to the discharge doors and to permit the operator to stand therein to 100k over the top of the bucket. The openings 80 also enable the operator to observe the position of the discharge doors to position the bucket for discharging concrete.

The preferred form of the invention having thus been described, what is claimed as new is:

1. A concrete bucket having a rectangular cross section in the bottom two-fifths in which portion the side walls are approximately vertical, the portion of the bucket above the vertical walls expanding into a circular cross section at the top, the bottom of the rectangular portion being open, a pair of clam shell doors pivoted to opposite sides of the rectangular portion and movable across the bottom opening of the bucket, a rotatable pinion mounted at each side of the bucket in position to mesh with a rack secured to an arm of one of the clam shell doors at each side of the bucket, said clam shell door arms at each side of the bucket having a pivotal connection for rotary movement in unison, and a hand-operated mechanism for adjusting the doors.

2. The concrete bucket defined in claim 1 in which a shaft extends through and is journaled in two vertical sides of the bucket, a hand wheel is secured to each end of the shaft, and a chain and sprocket connection is made between the shaft and the rack on one of the door arms.

3. The bucket construction defined in claim 1 in which the axis of the pivots of the arms are above the center of gravity of the arms with the doors attached to the bottoms of the arms and the balance of the hand wheel will cause the doors to close by gravity after rotation of the hand wheel is started.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 543,182 Hunt `Tuly 23, 1895 965,511 French July 26, 1910 1,898,328 Wiley Feb. 21. 1933 1,928,485 Gilbert Sept. 26, 1933 2,054,546 Kersting Sept. 15, 1936 2,134,643 Ray Oct. 25, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 479,963 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1938 

